Suffolk County Council and the UK's departure from the European Union

Find resources for residents, businesses, employers and the voluntary and community sector on preparing for the transition period, and the EU Settlement Scheme.

Transition period

As of 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom has left the European Union and has now entered a transition period, due to end on 31 December 2020.

The following information is designed to help you prepare for the end of this transition period.

EU Settlement Scheme

Advice for residents

If you are a European Union citizen, you and your family will be able to apply to get either settled or pre-settled status. Either one of these will let you continue living and working in the UK after December 2020.

The deadline for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme is 30 June 2021. The application process can be completed on a smartphone app, which is now available on both Android and Apple phones. However, if assistance is needed, the GOV.UK website has a list of organisations that can help.

Advice for businesses and employers

The EU Settlement Scheme allows your employees and their close family members to continue to live and work in the UK after the end of the transition period.

Using the scheme will mean that they are eligible for public services, such as healthcare and schools, public funds and pensions, and British citizenship if they want to apply and meet the requirements.

You can use an Employer Toolkit to explain the scheme to your employees. It contains a range of ready to use leaflets and posters.

Advice for the voluntary and community sector, local authorities, partners and providers

Advice for businesses

There are a variety of different sources of information regarding the transition period, and our trading relationship outside of the European Union.

Resources include:

Suffolk Chamber of Commerce: a range of news, information and checklists for businesses. Furthermore, there are now two Trade and Business advisors working with the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, who can be contacted by telephone on 01473 694803